Helpful Comfort
by missdallywinston
Summary: Emily gets stuck in a rut and ends up calling Ezra for help. One shot.


Emily held her head in her hands as she sat at the counter of dingy bar. She had been at the bar in Philly for about an hour now, trying to drink her feelings away. Everything was just too much for her. She had Alison back and there was no more A. It was everything Emily ever wanted, but now that she had it, it was bittersweet.

She missed Paige. She still had feeling for Ali. She still had feelings for Paige. She had never felt more lost in the harsh game of love. Everyone, including herself, was comparing Paige and Alison and picking sides. Emily wanted to be with Alison, and she wanted to be with Alison for years, but she wasn't concrete. Alison changed feelings quicker than you could feel them and Emily didn't know where it could go. Alison wasn't someone you could depend on. She switched emotions like a light switch and Emily didn't know if they'd ever work in relationship.

Then, there was Paige. Paige had betrayed her greatly, but Paige was something definite. If she chose Paige, Emily could see her possible future, and she liked the visions she saw. She wanted to go to college with Paige, she wanted a life with Paige. But after everything had flipped upside down, Emily didn't know if she really wanted that or not.

So here she sat, trying to drown her sorrows in liquor. After her third shot of vodka, though, Emily realized she should probably stop and drive home. It was getting late and her mom, and the girls, were probably worried. After all, Emily had gone MIA and shut her phone off earlier.

Emily threw a few bills on the table and waved goodbye to the bartender. She sighed as she got up and she felt woozy. Driving home wasn't the best idea and she knew it, but she couldn't let anyone know she went out and got drunk. Her mom would ground her for life and the girls would be extremely disappointed considering the last time she got drunk she endangered all of them.

She left the bar and got in her car and tried not to pass out in the seat. She dug her keys out of her purse and turned the ignition, but all the engine did was sputter and shut off. Emily groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me."

She tried again, but the same thing happened. Her car wouldn't turn on and she was stuck in Philadelphia. Reluctantly, Emily turned on her phone, trying to think of someone to call. If she called her mom, Pam would forget about the car and give Emily a long talk about underage drinking and how bad it was. If she called any of the girls, they'd do the same thing, giving her a lecture about responsibility and how it was stupid of her to go drinking without notifying anyone.

Scrolling through her contacts, her finger hovered over a few certain people. Paige could help her, but they were sort of on the outs right now. Toby would know what to do, but she remembered Spencer saying that he was out of town on business. Emily almost gave up, but she spotted a last resort contact labeled _Fitz._

Emily pressed his contact and quickly hit the dial button. Ezra could certainly keep a secret and after all, he did have the same car; he could help her. It rang a few times before he finally picked up and answered quite confused, "Hello?"

"Um, h-hey," Emily replied, hoping that her words weren't too slurred from alcohol. "It's Emily."

"Yeah, I- I know," Ezra stuttered, puzzled as to way Aria's friend was calling him at ten thirty on a Thursday night. "Um, what's up?"

"Can you, uh, can you come and get me?" Emily asked, feeling queasy. She wasn't sure if it was due to the vodka or the unusual situation with her former teacher and former stalker.

Ezra furrowed his brow on the other end. "Uh, why? Why, what's going on?"

"I'm in car and Philly stopped working," Emily explained, intoxication skewing her words.

"Emily, are you okay?" Ezra asked. He sensed that she was a little drunk, due to her slurred speech. "You sound a little… wait, you're in Philadelphia?"

"Yeah," Emily answered shortly.

Ezra sighed and nodded, even though Emily couldn't see him. "Where are you? I'll come get you."

She gave him the name of the pub and Ezra told her he'd be there soon. Before he hung up, though, Emily stopped him. "Wait!"

"Yes?" Ezra asked.

Emily rested her hand against her forehead and told him, "You can't tell Aria about this. Don't tell her about this, please."

"Emily, I can't promised that," Ezra mumbled, getting up off the couch and grabbing his keys from the table. He couldn't promise to not tell Aria. They were finally back together and Ezra wouldn't ruin things by covering Emily. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

XXXX

About thirty minutes later, Ezra pulled up to the shabby bar Emily had said she was at. He parked behind her Toyota, but sighed when he realized she wasn't inside. He panicked a little, but then he looked inside the bar's window and spotted her at the counter.

Pulling his jacket tighter around him, he stepped inside the gloomy bar and headed to where Emily was sitting. Her back was to him and he tapped her shoulder. She swiveled around on the bar stool and grimaced. "Mr. Fitz!"

Ezra spotted a couple of shot glasses in front of her. He clenched his jaw before grabbing a twenty from his coat pocket and setting it on the bar. He looked back to Emily and told her, "Come on, let's get you home."

She relented and got off the chair, but stumbled once she stood. Ezra steadied her and made sure she was balanced before ushering her out of the pub. He helped her cross the street to her car like some frail, old lady and opened the passenger door for her. She slumped in the seat as Ezra asked, "What's wrong with the car?"

"The engine sputtered," Emily mumbled sleepily. Ezra reached for her purse and grabbed her keys before circling the car and getting into the front seat. He put the keys in the ignition, but nothing happened. He figured something was wrong with the battery and commented, "I'm gonna try to jump start –" but when he turned to look at Emily, she was asleep and leaned against the window. Ezra scoffed before getting out and began to work on her car.

A little while later, Ezra tried to start her car again and sighed with relief when it turned on. He smiled to himself, proud that he could fix it. He turned to Emily and his face fell. He hadn't thought this through and had no idea what to do. He had to drive her home, no way could she drive herself, which meant he had to leave his car overnight in a bad part of town. He also had no idea where to even take Emily.

Ezra nudged her and tried to shake her so she would wake up. After about the seventh nudge, Emily finally woke up extremely disoriented. "What!?"

"I got the engine running," Ezra explained.

Emily sighed as she remembered the situation. She rested against the seat before turning to him. "Thank you, Ezra. I'm sorry I dragged you out to Philly and –"

"It's no problem," Ezra dismissed. "I'm glad I could help." Emily smiled and nodded. Ezra smiled back before asking, "So, it's almost midnight… where do you want me to drive you?"

She sighed once more before resting her head in her hands. She stayed silent, but all the feelings she had felt earlier hit her and she began to cry. She had nowhere to go.

Ezra froze beside her and had no idea what to say or do. The more they sat, Emily cried louder and harder. Finally, Ezra turned to face her and tried to console her. "Is everything… are you okay?"

"I'm not," she cried, turning to look at him. "Everything's over now, but it's still so hard. I thought Alison being back would make everything better, but all it's done is made things worse."

"I get it," Ezra agreed. "I tried to even help to bring her home, but now that she is home… everything's insane."

"Thanksh for getting sot though," Emily added, words still slurred.

Ezra laughed slightly at her pronunciation but responded, "No need to thank me for that either."

"What did you ever see in Ali?" Emily asked, genuinely intrigued. She had often asked herself the same question.

Thrown off by the question, Ezra gaped at her for a couple of seconds before shrugging. "She's Alison. And I was in college and then this interesting girl was into me and… I don't know. I mean, she was just so confident, but to this day, I don't know what I saw in her."

"Me either," Emily mumbled sadly, glancing out the window.

"The best thing that came out of me seeing Ali was meeting Aria," Ezra explained, getting Emily's mind off her conflicted romantic feelings. "If I never met Ali, I would've never met Aria. I can't imagine my life without Aria and, I don't want to ever again."

"Again?"

Ezra shrugged, "After Aria found out about…everything, I thought I'd never see her again."

"You two wouldn't let that happen," Emily sighed. "She loves you so much, Fitz… and I'm happy you two are good again, but if you hurt her one more time, I'll hunt you down."

"I don't plan on ever hurting her again," Ezra assured.

Emily smiled sullenly and retorted, "No one plans to hurt anyone they love."

Ezra nodded slowly, slightly surprised at Emily's wisdom. He knew she was smart, but that statement was just about the truest words he had ever heard. After a few tense seconds, he broke the silence again and asked, "Where to?"

"I don't know," Emily sighed, wishing her headache would go away. "It's way past my curfew."

"I'll call Aria and ask if you can stay there," Ezra offered, pulling out his phone.

Emily shook her head, "No, you can't let her know."

"Why?"

"The last time I was drunk was when A framed us all for Ali's grave robbing. My friends will freak if they know if I left to go get drunk," Emily whimpered.

Ezra reassured her, "They won't. Emily, if I let Aria know, she's not gonna be upset."

"Fine," Emily relented, resting her head against the window.

Ezra was pleased to win the small battle and dialed Aria's number. On the final ring she answered groggily. "Ezra, why are you calling me? It's past midnight."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," Ezra apologized. "Um, I had to pick Emily up and she doesn't have anywhere to go, so can you pick her up from the apartment?"

"Why did you have to pick Emily up?" Aria asked, bewildered.

Ezra sighed, "It's a long story, I'll tell you tomorrow. Can you come get her?"

"Sure, sure," Aria permitted. "Is everything okay? Is she okay?"

"She's… fine, everything's fine," Ezra said with uncertainty. "You might want to make sure she's near a toilet or something she can throw up in, but everything's okay."

"Ezra, that doesn't sound like she's okay," Aria chastised. "Why'd you have to pick her up at midnight?"

"Her car broke down," Ezra explained. "We'll be there in about half an hour, maybe more."

Aria was even more confused. Why would Emily call Ezra for car troubles? And why was she so far away? "Uh, okay… love you."

"I love you, too," Ezra said, causing Emily to look over at him. "Bye."

He hung up and Emily chuckled, "You two are the only people who could transition from talking about toilets to saying I love you."

Ezra laughed in agreement before turning the car back on. He was relieved when it worked before pulling away from the curb and driving back to Rosewood.

Emily and Ezra remained silent for the first few minutes before Emily smiled, "I'm glad she has you. I know it's been hell for you and Aria, but you do make her happy. I wish I had that."

Ezra glanced over at her before assuring, "You will. You might have even had it already."

"Maybe," Emily mumbled. "Did Ali ever talk about us to you? Or talk about friends?"

"Well, she gave me her journals which were mostly about you four," Ezra explained.

Emily grimaced and questioned, "Once you met me, did you realize I was the one who she said would rob a bank for her?"

"Honestly?" Ezra asked. Emily nodded and Ezra explained, "I thought that was Hanna."

"If Ali pulled the strings right, I think she could make anyone rob a bank for her," Emily commented.

Ezra nodded, "I suppose that's right."

"What did you think of the entries about Aria?" Emily pried. "Like, before you met her when you read them."

"I don't remember," Ezra sighed. "I certainly wasn't thinking that I was reading about the person I'd love more than anything later on."

Eventually, Ezra pulled up to the apartments and led Emily inside. When he opened the door to the apartment, Aria was already there. She looked at the two completely confused. "Who's gonna tell me what happened?"

Emily held her stomach and she felt her insides churn. "Uh, where's the bathroom?"

"It's that door next to the TV," Ezra directed. Emily dashed off the bathroom and proceeded to puke out the alcohol. Aria watched bewildered before turning to Ezra. "What the hell happened?"

Ezra sighed, "She called me, told me her car was broke down, and wanted me to come help her."

"Is she drunk?" Aria asked.

Ezra nodded, "Yeah. She was at a bar when I went to pick her up in Philly… and my car is still in Philly."

"Why'd she call you?" Aria questioned, slightly amused. She had no idea Emily and Ezra were so close.

"I don't know," Ezra laughed. "Can you drive me up there tomorrow to go get my car?"

"Yeah, I'll just take her car and leave my car here, okay?" Ezra nodded and handed Aria Emily's keys before Aria added, "Thanks for taking care of her."

"Don't mention it," Ezra replied.

Emily stepped out of the bathroom shortly after, wiping her mouth. Aria looked at her sympathetically before nodding towards the door, "Come on, let's get back to my house."

Emily nodded tiredly and followed Aria to the door. She looked awkwardly at Ezra and thanked, "Thank you for coming and fixing my car and for everything."

"You're welcome," he smiled. He kissed Aria on the forehead before opening the door for them. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Aria nodded, and kissed him back on the cheek. "Night," she grinned, stepping out into the hall with Emily.

Once he closed the door, Emily glanced back to the now closed apartment and stated, "He's a keeper."

Aria giggled at her slightly intoxicated friend and nodded, "I know."

**(A/N:) this was just something random because I love the friendship between Emily and Ezra and apparently there's emzra scenes in 5x11 so I wrote this! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Don't forget to review!**


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